Letters to the Editor

Child abuse prevention program launches in rural Colorado

Parenting coaches will visit at-risk families under a new program announced Monday aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect throughout Colorado.

Families referred to child protective services for suspected abuse or neglect can participate in the program, called SafeCare. Doctors, public health officials and schools also can refer families to the program, which is voluntary.

Families whose allegations of neglect are screened out by county child welfare departments can take part in SafeCare as a best option to keep protective services from appearing again, said Katherine Casillas, director of SafeCare Colorado.

The program, funded by a budget approved by the Legislature this year, will begin in 15 counties and within three years expand to the entire state. It is a major part of state reforms announced in the past year following a 2012 Denver Post/9News investigation that found more than 40 percent of children who die of abuse or neglect came from families known to child protective workers before their deaths.

"So many communities in the state do not have the resources to intervene with at-risk families early on," said Reggie Bicha, executive director of the Colorado Department of Human Services. "This new program, which is going to be available in October, will be in communities that have never had these types of services before."

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In its first year, the program could work with as many as 600 families in 15 rural counties and the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain tribes. Once the program is implemented in all 64 counties, it could help as many as 1,800 families per year, Bicha said.

The legislature approved $1.9 million for the program's first year. Similar budgets were approved for the following two years.

"My goal is to get to every kid in the state regardless of where they live," Bicha said.

State officials have proceeded with reforms at "breakneck pace compared to usual policy change," said Des Runyan, executive director of the The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. Runyan advised state Department of Human Services officials last year to put SafeCare in all Colorado counties.

As a physician, Runyan said, he has had some parents say their child "is mean" or "doesn't like them," and they were talking about infants.

The 18-week program teaches such parenting skills such as how to deal with a toddler's tantrum, when to see a doctor and what behavior to expect from kids under age 5, the most common age for child death by abuse or neglect. In Oklahoma, researchers found a 26 percent reduction in new reports to child welfare in families who participated in SafeCare. Certain families in Oklahoma are required to participate; in Colorado, the program is voluntary.

One SafeCare program has existed in Denver for about three years through the court system.

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